Patient Financial Engagement (PFE)

Transcription

1 White Paper TM Patient Financial Engagement (PFE) Enhancing the patient experience through patient payment solutions TM (C) Copyright 2016 Payspan

2 Table of Contents Overview How patient payment solutions work The right program for today s healthcare economy Health costs stats Achieving operational and financial excellence

3 Patient Financial Engagement Enhancing the patient experience through patient payment solutions TM Physician practices need an easy way to take the mystery and surprise out of patients financial obligations, making them engaged, confident and comfortable with the financial aspects of their care. Healthcare providers have always thought first and foremost of how to best meet their patients needs. Billing and payment, on the other hand, have been considered business processes separate from the relationship between provider and patient. In today s healthcare environment, that separation no longer works. Patients are being asked to pay an ever-increasing share of their healthcare costs, often without understanding or anticipating these costs. As patients consumer roles expand, so do their expectations of their healthcare providers. In response, providers have opened new channels of communication with patients, educating them about their health, medical risks and conditions, and seeking to involve them more fully in decisions about their care. However, the patient s financial encounter is an equally important factor in shaping his or her overall healthcare experience. Patients increasingly want and expect clear, direct, and timely communication about the actual cost of services, the amount covered by insurance, their own financial obligation, and the payment options available to help them meet that obligation. An easy way to meet these expectations has been a long time coming until now. Physician practices need an easy way to take the mystery and surprise out of patients financial obligations, making them engaged, confident and comfortable with the financial aspects of their care. The good news is that the majority of insured consumers wants and expects to pay what they owe, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. The main reasons they don t pay are the very factors patient payment solutions are designed to change: Inefficiencies in billing practices and problems with claims processing, payments, billing and revenue cycle management. 76% providers one said it took more than month to collect from a patient Consumer confusion, including that caused by an often weeks-long lag between services received and receipt of a bill, and then a separate and seemingly unconnected estimation of benefits from the insurer. Lack of financing and payment options. In fact, most bad debt would be paid, McKinsey analysts conclude, if a consumer-centric payments model helped patients understand their costs and liabilities in a timely manner and offered workable solutions to help them manage and pay what they owe (1). Payspan s Patient Financial Engagement Solution is exactly that a consumer-centric, patient-facing model that actually works. With this solution, patient satisfaction improves, along with an increase in collection of patient responsibility dollars and a reduction in collection time. 2

4 How patient payments solutions work Payspan s Patient Financial Engagement Solution is a highly integrated set of financial tools that fit easily within existing provider processes and workflows. The program gives front- and backoffice personnel all the tools needed to create a better financial experience for both the patient and provider, while easing the workload of the payment process and reducing administrative time and costs. The technology is intuitively easy to use. The goal is to enable provider office staff to maintain a clear financial dialogue with patients throughout the patient experience. Payspan s Patient Financial Engagement Solution: The right program for today s healthcare economy Since 2011, providers saw a 67% increase in patient responsibility Engaging patients financially has never been more critical. In the past, collecting payment for medical care rendered was straightforward. Insurers paid the lion s share of members costs, and patients received bills for the balance. Since these balances were relatively manageable, compared to today, the majority of patients paid their share. What patients did not pay could be written off without undue harm to providers. With the increased adoption of high-deductible health plans, patients are more responsible for payments than ever. Today, according to McKinsey analysis, $300 billion a year 15 cents of every dollar spent on healthcare is never collected. These uncollected charges continue to rise, too. The dollar amounts leftover per visit to physician practices are smaller than those remaining on hospital bills, but these uncollected amounts represent a large portion of addressable bad debt (as much as 90 percent of uncollected member liabilities are for physician and outpatient care) and the cost and complexity of consumer billing and collections are particularly onerous. (1) 3

5 Healthcare Costs Stats Nearly 80% of newly insured individuals are at high risk for non-payment.(2) Uncompensated care rose to $41 billion in (3) Healthcare spending grew to nearly $8,915 per person in (4) 41% of adults between the ages of 19 and 64 reported having medical debt or trouble paying their medical bills in (5) 80% of covered workers faced a general annual deductible averaging $1,217 in (6) Achieving operational and financial excellence with Payspan s Patient Financial Engagement Solution The financial transparency provided by Patient Financial Engagement increases patient s confidence in their providers and eliminates confusion about benefits and financial obligations. Increased practice revenue. Provider offices that use patient payment solutions have seen an increase in point-of-service payments. This reduces the risk of uncompensated care, and also decreases the number of calls made and statements sent. Increased office efficiency. Easily integrated within existing provider processes and workflows, Payspan s Patient Financial Engagement Solution gives the front- and back-office personnel the tools they need to create a better financial experience for the patient and provider. The transition is easy, smooth and doesn t take weeks of training. Increased patient satisfaction. Increasingly, healthcare is driven by the consumers view of providers, with patients seeking a more consumer-friendly experience. Convenience and clarity are key drivers of satisfaction. The financial transparency provided by Patient Financial Engagement Solution increases patients confidence in their providers and eliminates confusion about benefits and financial obligations. The convenient payment options offered to patients increase their appreciation and loyalty. 4

6 About Payspan Payspan s solutions enable stakeholders to interact across communities, conduct commerce, capture value, instill trust and use reimbursement as strategy. With more than 25 years of payments expertise, Payspan, Inc., is a trusted source of innovative healthcare reimbursement solutions. Serving more than 650+ health plans, their 126,000,000+ covered lives and a community of 1,300,000+ providers, Payspan s solutions enable stakeholders to interact across communities, conduct commerce, capture value, instill trust and use reimbursement as strategy. Payspan s customers comprise an elite array of industry leaders representing all benefit types, across both commercial and government sectors. Payspan is Empowering the Healthcare Economy. (1) Remedies_for_an_ailing_system.pdf (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (C) Copyright 2016 Payspan 5

7 Contact Us For more information on Patient Financial Engagement and other solutions related to reimbursement automation, please contact: Provider Sales Payspan Two Ravinia Drive Suite 1710 Atlanta, GA Payspan 7751 Belfort Parkway Suite 200 Jacksonville, FL For more information: (C) Copyright 2016 Payspan